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PHILADELPHIA -- Wearing "A's" on their jerseys, Mike Fisher and Chris Neil rose to the occasion last night.

With Chris Phillips wearing the captain's "C," the Senators forwards stepped up in a big way in a 4-3 victory over the Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

After Neil tied the game with 9:50 left, Fisher scored the winner on a short-handed breakaway with 1:57 remaining.

Phillips and Denis Hamel also scored for the Senators.

"Those guys work hard for us and you want to reward those guys," said Senators coach Bryan Murray. "They've been around a long time and they deserve it.

"I thought our guys really stepped up."

Fisher said it was nice to get the recognition with a letter -- even if it is the pre-season.

"I was pleased with the way our guys stepped up because the Flyers had a lot of NHL players in the lineup," said Fisher

The task of replacing defenceman Joe Corvo started here last night.

With Corvo likely out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks with a fractured right foot, Senators GM John Muckler and Murray started looking at their options.

It's no coincidence Anton Volchenkov and Tom Preissing were among the ice-time leaders.

VOLCHENKOV SLASHED

Volchenkov was slashed at the end of the game, but Murray didn't believe the finger injury was serious.

With Corvo gone, the club is going to be counting on either Preissing or Volchenkov to step into the club's top four.

"You're disappointed to lose a guy like Corvo, but we have other people here," said Muckler. "The thing is, with Zdeno Chara gone, the ice time is going to be distributed more evenly this year anyway.

"But you'd like to see a guy like Volchenkov step up. I always look at him as a guy who could be more than a No. 5 or No. 6 defenceman.There's an opening at No. 4 for somebody right now."

The competition for jobs on the blueline should heat up this week. Christoph Schubert, who was facing the possibility of being used on the wing, is expected to get clearance to skate Tuesday, while the club also has veteran Jamie Allison in camp.

Phillips has, for the most part, played with Andrej Meszaros while Corvo was paired up with Redden.

Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber gave way to Jeff Glass (as planned) after allowing two goals on 14 shots.

"I asked Martin about the first one (by Joni Pitkanen from a bad angle) and Gerber thought he was going to make the pass. Then, it just kind of bounced off him," said Murray.

The guy making noise in the Senators camp is Hamel, who is trying to secure a spot on the roster. Hamel scored his fifth goal of the pre-season with a bullet past Esche high on the glove side.